The Boy on Fire
by Cassniss2798
Summary: This is The Hunger Games in Peeta's point of view. Peeta is thrown into the Hunger Games, a horrible televised fight to the death. On top of all of this the girl he has had a crush on is in there with him. Follow Peeta on a journey of a life time.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Okay, so this is my first story on here and I am super excited to see what you guys think! This first chapter might not be perfect, but I promise you the story will get better!**

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I'm not the great and magnificent Suzanne Collins who wrote the marvelous Hunger Games Trilogy. All characters belong to her and anything you see here that is from the book is also , if I was Suzanne Collins, I wouldn't be here! I would be a multimillionaire who bathes in their surplus of money. But instead I am here writing this story for you wonderful people. :D  
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**Summary: This is The Hunger Games in Peeta's point of view. Peeta is thrown into the Hunger Games, a horrible televised fight to the death. On top of all of this the girl he has had a crush on is in there with him. Follow Peeta on the fight to get out of the games alive with the one he loves the most.**

Bread. The thick crust on the outside and the soft fluff on the inside. I wake up every morning to make all types of pastries. I usually wake up early to work in the bakery that my parents own, but my parents gave me the day off since today is the reaping. I head down to the shop were my father is already kneading dough to make some sort of the many types of breads we sell.

"You're up early, Peeta," my father looks up from his kneading.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep." I look over to the clock hanging over the stove. It was only seven in the morning. The reaping was at two in the afternoon.I walked over to my dad and pulled out some dough from a nearby bowl. I kneaded the dough by my father's side.

"Nervous about today, son?" I stop meshing the dough to look at him. 

"I guess," I murmur. I was sixteen which meant that my name was put into the reaping bowl five times, plus the extra twenty-four tesserae I took for my family. I had two older brothers, Appam and Ry. Appam was 19, which meant he wasn't eligible to partake in the Reaping anymore. Ry was 18 and this was his last year, so he took forty-eight tesserae, plus the seven he already had.  
>The grain and oil won't last us that long, but it will have to do. After some time of pounding at the bread mix, trying to take my mind off of the reaping, I decide to go to the Hob and take a walk through the town. I grab 2 loaves of bread to trade to the Hob.<p>

I lived in the better part of District 12, which wasn't that much better than the rest of it. Today, the streets are empty instead of the usual coal miners scattered around the streets trying to get to work at the mines. I don't think I'll ever be a coal miner. I've heard too many stories of what happens in there.  
>Appam works at the coal mines. He says he'd rather get dirty in coal then in flour. He comes home and tells stories about the coal mines all the time. From what he's said it sounds like a verydangerous job. I on the other hand would rather get dirty in flour then in coal.<p>

I come to the front of the Hob, a black market in an abandoned coal warehouse. This is the only place still busy on reaping day. I sit down at the end of the bar while Greasy Sae, the elderly lady that sells bowls of soup to people willing to trade, walks my way.

"How ya doin' today, Peeta?" She says looking at the bread I have in my hand.

"Fine. I came here to give you some bread in trade for a bowl of soup."

And that's when they walked in. The boy in Appam's grade, the one all of the girls talk about. With him is the girl whose father died in the mining accident a couple years back. The girl with long brown hair, always in a braid. The ones with the smooth, beautiful, dark skin. The girl sitting by that tree four years ago that I gave bread too. Katniss.  
>They carry in what seems to be squirrels and fish. They make a trade with Greasy Sae then walk out of the building. I always catch myself looking at Katniss. She is so beautiful. I've never seen a girl like her. It' not just her beauty that pulls me in. It's also the fact that she has been supporting her mother and her younger sister, Primrose. The strength, courage, and bravery that she has, has me marveled me every time I think about it.<p>

"So what do you have for me, sonny?" Greasy Sae brings me out of my thoughts.

"Some bread," I answer. The clock on the wall reads one o' clock so I have to take the soup to go. When I get home, Ry is getting ready, and telling me to hurry up. I put on my father's old button down dress shirt and my dress pants. I pull on socks, and put on my grandfather's dress old dress shoes. I get all of the hammy-downs since I'm the youngest Mellark. I come down the stairs and joined Ry at the front door.

The walk into town is silent, as this is not a very happy day. The usually coal-miner filled streets are filled by children of the ages twelve to eighteen today. I go to the roped off area of where boys of the age sixteen are supposed to be.

I look up at the stage where the Panem flag is waving in the wind over everyone. Under it is 3 chairs; two are taken by Mayor Undersee and Effie Trinket the District 12 escort. They are looking every which way, in search of something.

Mayor Undersee stands at the podium as the clock strikes two, and he reads off a piece of paper about the history of Panem. He drones on about the same stuff every year. About the Dark Days and how District 13 was destroyed to ashes. Why we even have the Hunger Games to begin with. These horrific games were started to remind the 12 districts to never try and rebel again against the Capitol again. He finishes with the rules of the Hunger Games.

One boy and girl from the ages of twelve and eighteen will be chosen from each district to fight in an arena until the death. Last person standing wins. It's a way of showing us how vulnerable we are compared to them. To show us how they could kill us at any moment. How our lives depend on the way we act. One mistake and you could be punished by death.

"It is both a time for repentance and a time for thanks," he says.

He continues by reading a list of past victors off a piece of parchment, which is only two in the past 74 years. This is when the owner of the third chair appears. Haymitch Abernathy. The only living victor of District 12 tumbles onto the stage. You can almost see the alcohol dripping off of start to applaud for him, but he has no idea what is going on, and try's to hug Effie but it looks like he's just falling onto her.

She pushes him off as gently as possible, stepping up to the podium. Mayor Undersee sits back down and I can see the embarrassment all over his face. Everyone here should be embarrassed. This is being televised to all of Panem. Everyone is laughing at District 12 right now, glad that their District isn't the laughing stalk this year.

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be _ever _in your favor!" Effie's voice is very bubbly as she tries to bring the attention back to the reaping. It appears to me that her pink hair, which must be wig, has shifted slightly. She drowns on about how much she loves being the escort of District 12, when everyone, even herself, knows that she wants a better district that doesn't have a drunkard victor.

"Ladies first!" she announces as she steps over to the big bowl holding all of the names of the girls between the ages of twelve and eighteen in District 12.

You can almost hear the hearts of ever girl their beat faster as they pray and hope that they are safe one more year. That's when she says the name. And its Katniss's little sister, Primrose Everdeen.

**AN: I hoped you liked it! I know that Peeta's older brother's name, Appam. is kinda weird but I wanted to keep the whole thing of them being named after bread. Appam was the most normal named type of bread I could fine. Ry is named after rye bread, just in case you were wondering. I will work my best to update every week. Since this the first chapter I will try to update again this week. Please R&R! I would greatly appreciate it! Please no mean comments! Like I said this is my first fanfiction story. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, too! May the odds be _ever _in your favor! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: ****So here's Chapter 2 of my story! I hope you like it! Enjoy! :D**

**Disclaimer:**** Obviously, I'm not the great and magnificent Suzanne Collins who wrote the marvelous Hunger Games Trilogy. All characters belong to her and anything you see here that is from the book is also hers. Besides, if I was Suzanne Collins, I wouldn't be here! I would be a multimillionaire who bathes in their surplus of money. But instead I am here writing this story for you wonderful people. :D  
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><span><strong>Summary:<strong>** This is The Hunger Games in Peeta's point of view. Peeta is thrown into the Hunger Games, a horrible televised fight to the death. On top of all of this the girl he has had a crush on is in there with him. Follow Peeta on the fight to get out of the games alive with the one he loves the most.**

Silence. That's all you can hear. Prim, the sweet little girl who couldn't harm a fly was now going to be put in the arena to fight to the death. The silence is broken when people all around start talking among themselves, saddened how a 12 year old girl got picked, but happy it wasn't them or their family.

Prim began the fearful walk up to the stage. The color in her face was drained, almost a white color now. She had her small little fists at her side and she tried walking with her head held high, but you could tell that all she wanted to do was run away from it all. That's when a voice rings out.

"Prim!" It almost sounds like a strangled cry.

"Prim!" She screams again. Everyone makes way for Katniss so that she doesn't have to shove through the crowd. There is a clear, straight path for her to make it up to the stage. When she reaches her sister, she pushes her behind her. The words that come out of her mouth are almost never said in District 12.

"I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!"

I don't think anyone has ever volunteered in 12. The word _tribute_ is almost exact to the word _corpse._

"Lovely!" Effie says in the most annoying Capital accent ever. "But I believe there's a small matter of introducing the reaping winner and then asking for volunteer, and if one does come forth we, umm…"

That just proves how long it's been since there has been a volunteer in our district. Its own escort doesn't know what to do when someone volunteers.

"What does it matter?" Mayor Undersee says. He looks at Katniss with an almost pitiful expression.

"What does it matter?" he repeats in a monotone voice. "Let her come forward."

Screams come from Prim, as Katniss tries to pull away. "No Katniss! No! You can't go!"

That's when Gale, the boy who was trading with Katniss earlier today, grabs Prim and pulls her away. Katniss steals one last look at her sister and walks up the steps to where Effie is standing.

"Well, bravo!" Effie coos. "That's the spirit of the Games!" She sounds happy, probably because there was a little action going on in her District. "What's your name?"

"Katniss Everdeen," she replies.

"I bet my buttons that was your sister. Don't want her to steal all the glory, do we?" If she only knew. "Come on, everybody! Let's give a big round of applause to our newest tribute!" Effie shrills.

No one claps. This isn't something to be happy about. Someone is giving up their life for someone else. So instead of Katniss getting a round of applause, one by one, everyone puts their three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips, then toward Katniss.

This is an old sign mostly seen at funerals. It's a sign of thanks, affection, a sign of good-bye to a loved one. In this lovely moment, Haymitch decides to get up and say a few words.

"Look at her! Look at this one!" he shouts while slinging an arm around Katniss's shoulder. "I like her!" He goes on.

"Lots of…" He's lost of words. "Spunk!" He finds the right words. "More than you!" He's now let go of Katniss and is walking to the front of the stage. He looks directly into the camera and repeats, "More than you!" He falls of the stage and has knocked himself unconscious. A stretcher comes in and takes him away.

"What an exciting day!" Effie brings the attention back to the stage. "But more excitement to come! It's time to choose our boy tribute!"

Now it is the boys' turn to get nervous. My heart is pumping fast, and Effie grabs a name so quickly the impact barely hits me.

"Peeta Mellark." Peeta Mellark. It can't be my name. It just can't.

Realization slowly hits me, and suddenly I am dazedly walking up to the stage. Ry will volunteer for me. Won't he?

I make it to the stage barely holding back tears. Effie asks for volunteers. To my dread no one says anything. Not even Ry. I catch a glimpse of him in the crowd and I see no emotions on his face. He's not going to volunteer. I try to block out the feeling of rejection, by my own brother. I try and turn my attention away from him. I look at Katniss and she's looking right back at him. Those gray colored eyes locking with my blue eyes. It reminded me of the first time we locked eyes...

It was raining really hard that day. I had woken up early like usual, went to school, and came home to work in the bakery. It was just a little bit before closing and it started raining harder. I was at the ovens by the window when I noticed someone outside. So did my mother. My mother wasn't a very sweet person. She said she loves me and my brothers equally, but I know she doesn't love me as much as she loves them. I heard her telling my father how she'd never wanted me, how she always wanted a girl.

She opened the backdoor and started to scream at the person outside. I went to the door to see who it was but she was in my way. I peered over her shoulder and saw that it was Katniss, the girl who was in the same grade as me. Katniss carefully placed the lid back on the trash can and walked away. My mother went back inside and I followed.

Katniss's father had died just a few weeks before. She must be hungry. I couldn't let her starve.

I walked back to the ovens and finished up with the bread. As I was about to put it on the rack, the idea hit me. I knew it would end in pain, but I couldn't let Katniss and her sweet, little, seven year old sister, Prim, starve. I let the bread drop into the fire instead of placing it on the racks. My mother must have seen because she pulled me away from the oven and started screaming.

She took the bread out of the oven with a fork and placed it on the counter. She was yelling, but I couldn't hear what she was saying because my heart was pounding in my she got closer, she raised her hand and I knew what was coming next.

My face stung as if I had been bit in the face by 10 wasps.

"Go throw these to the pigs!" She said throwing the loaves at me.

I head to the pens, and I see her sitting against the big tree we have in our yard. She looks miserable, and I can't help but feel a twinge of pity for her. I dropped three loaves of bread into the oven. I started ripping pieces off the first one and threw them at the pigs. When I was done I stood there for a while.

Then I looked at her and in that moment we locked eyes. I threw the first loaf at her feet and her eyes didn't move from mine. I threw the second one and gave her a small nod that she might have not caught. I turned around and went back inside. My mother was still angry and told me to go to my room. As I walked up the stairs I felt just a little brave like Katniss.

The next morning when I woke up to go to school, the side of my face that my mother had hit felt numb. I looked in the mirror and saw that my face had gotten swollen.

I walked the hallways and saw her once. The day had gone by and I said nothing to her. It was after school that we actually acknowledged each other. I was on one side of the school yard, and she was on the other. She was with her little sister and she gazed at me. We locked eyes for one second before I turned away embarrassed that she caught me looking at her. She looked down and I could make out a yellow dandelion at her feet, the first one of the spring. Her little sister picked up and they continued on their way.

Now I was going to be thrown into an arena, with the girl I like, and we will be forced to fight until the death.

The Panem anthem plays and brings me out of my reminiscing.

_There are twenty-four of us. _I think to myself. _Hopefully, she won't be forced to kill _me.

**Author's Note****: So at the end of Chapter 2 in ****The Hunger Games,**** Katniss is hoping she won't have to kill Peeta. So I thought maybe Peeta could be hoping that she won't have to kill **_**him. **_**Also, I don't know about you guys, but I HATE Peeta's mom. So I tried making her as mean as possible. BUT, I do like his dad, so I'll only say good things about him. I hope you liked it. I tried my best. Please R&R! Thanks for reading. I will try to upload Chapter 3 soon. **


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